Amazon cutting hundreds of employees

To shift resources to fast-growing businesses

(CNBC) — Amazon is laying off employees in the “low hundreds” an in effort to shift head count allocation to businesses that are growing, CNBC has learned.

The Seattle Times first reported that Amazon was laying off “hundreds” of employees and “managing out” others as the company consolidates its retail operations.

A person familiar with the matter says the cuts are focused on Amazon’s Seattle headquarters and will affect some workers globally. The layoffs will occur in the consumer retail business, which includes Amazon’s toys, books and groceries units, to make room for head count in businesses that are growing, like Alexa, AWS and digital entertainment. Jeff Bezos, in a statement in the last earnings report, said Amazon would “double down” on Alexa after blowing past projections.